Bubblegum Moon I
by PotterAnon
Summary: A WhenLupinMetTonks tale. Tonks' first year as an order member, and how Lupin learnt to love... Eventually. WARNING: CONTAINS SEXUAL THEMES AND SPORADIC STRONG LANGUAGE.
1. Nymphadora Tonks

_Hey there. As ever, anything I write that JKR has already written remains hers - I don't make any presumption towards claiming it as my own._

_This is my first proper Lupin Meets Tonks story. I'm going to do my utmost to complete it, but I need all the encouragement I can get so please Read & Review if you have time. Even if you don't have time - push back what ever would stop you from reviewing and tell me what you think!_

_I also could do with a lovely beta tester. I know, I'm always asking for them, but you just can't get the staff these days... Please volunteer - the first two chapters of this are utterly un-beta-ed, and will most likely be unreadable because of it._

_Enjoy!_

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**Chapter One – Nymphadora Tonks**

Merlin's Cauldron was squeezed underneath a block of flats in Norwich, Norfolk. Its entrance appeared boarded over and as derelict as the crumbling remains of the rest of the building, and was located at the bottom of steep flight of concrete steps. The inlay of the door was scrawled with graffiti, and the yellowing light over the double door was weak and flickering, but illuminated the sign across the entrance: 'DANGER: KEEP OUT'.

It was not the kind of place that respectable – or even unrespectable – people wanted to find themselves, and for that reason it was particularly strange that there was a rather large amount of activity in the area. People for ever seemed to be coming and going from this place, walking briskly along the mottled pavement and disappearing down the steps towards the cellar underneath, and staggering dazedly back up them again hours later at two or three in the morning, stepping into nearby telephone boxes and vanishing.

There was also a rumour circulating around the area that the barely inhabited blocks of flats around the abandoned one were cursed. Bizarre and abnormal happening had a tendency to occur in the neighbourhood, and it seemed that the residents were either highly eccentric individuals, or at the very least, exceptionally odd.

One particularly clear night just after the full moon, residents would be forgiven for thinking that for once, someone vaguely normal-looking appeared to have arrived, walking a large, black dog. There was no lead, but that was the only thing that seemed unusual about him. If it had not been for that, he would have been unremarkable. Which, in this place perhaps, made him rather more remarkable than the average passer-by.

His pace was intent but unhurried. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, though there was little chance he'd ever been seen the area before. His dog trotted happily at his side, bounding ahead occasionally and turning to watch its master catch up. It sat on the corner of the pavement above where the concrete steps to the basement of the boarded-up block of flats was, and waited for his owner to approach. His owner ruffled the fur on the dog's head roughly, before proceeding down the steps. The dog pawed at his ears, almost as though irritated, then followed his owner.

The man's name was Remus Lupin. He reached the bottom of the steps and glanced around, examining the graffiti on the walls. Eventually he seemed to find what he was looking for, and pulling a short, blunt stick from his inside pocket, tapped the wall in three places.

"There you go, Padfoot," he said, as the wooden blockade on the door slid back into the wall, and the shattered glass melted until it looked new again. "You were right." He glanced down in time to see the dog lower its head in an unmistaken bow.

" 'Merlin's Cauldron,' " he read out loud from a sign about the newly restored door. "I have every doubt that Merlin would ever have been seen in a place like this, Sirius."

The dog growled softly.

"All right, all right, I'm going."

Lupin pushed open the door, and was assaulted by a cacophony of barely synchronized sound. His expression changed to one somewhere between apprehension and amusement. The dog, on the other hand, simply scampered through the door past Lupin, nudging his leg as he went, and disappeared from view behind a crowd of people.

Merlin's Cauldron was famed for entertaining some of the wizarding world's loudest, most raucous and most fashionable young witches and wizards, but Lupin had doubted that it would be _this_ bad.

Once you stepped through the doors, there was nothing you could do to escape the noise coming from the stage, where five grim-looking individual's were playing an array of instruments at least slightly off-key, and peering bleary-eyed through thick, black fringes of hair in varying degrees of grubbiness. The air was thick with the multicoloured smoke of several dozen pipes, and the floor felt decidedly sticky to the peeling soles of Lupin's shoes.

Lupin steered his way through the jostling, bumping crowd, aiming for the bar, and praying that Sirius was staying well and truly out of trouble. He didn't think that Sirius staying out of trouble was at all likely, but hoped at least that he wasn't causing too much damage. Although, it might have been difficult to discern what damage Sirius caused from the years worth of abuse the bar appeared to have suffered already.

Sirius was in his element. As a dog, he evidently found it even more hilarious than he normally did to come to these places and behave the huge loveable dog. Lupin smiled to himself. Sirius had always relished being in his Animagus form – more so perhaps than any of the others. Perhaps that was because of the amount of times he'd used it while shut up in Azkaban to temporarily escape the torment of the place, but he seemed almost dog-like in his human form sometimes. Lupin knew, though, that Sirius's days as Snuffles, being allowed to run and stalk around the neighbourhood near Grimauld Place were most likely about to meet a sudden hold. The longer Wormtail was with the Dark Lord after he had provided his master with a new body, the more likely it was that the rat would tell Voldemort all about Sirius's disguise: it was soon to be useless.

Lupin sat down at the bar and acquired – through a strange mix of raising his voice and wild hand gestures – a butterbeer from under the counter. The barman was a large individual with a leather waistcoat that did nothing to hide his massive stomach, and Lupin felt that he really would not like to meet this gentleman on a dark night, whether he was armed with his wand or not.

He had barely taken two sips from the rather mucky-looking bottle when Sirius sprung out of the crowd towards him, with a small, pink-haired girl in tow. She couldn't have been more than twenty, with a smooth, clear, heart-shaped face, large brown eyes and vividly blue, spiked hair. She also wore what looked a lot like a dragon skin corset.

Lupin slipped off his stool and held out his hand. "Nymphadora Tonks?"

"Wotcha." She shook his hand. "And it's _just_ Tonks. Who're you?"

He realised how strange it would be to be led across a bar by an exceptionally well-trained dog and thrust into the company of a ragged-looking stranger who was entirely out of place in the setting. She was supposedly an Auror – of course alarm bells would be ringing by now.

"I'm a friend of Mad-Eye Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolts'." Her eyebrows – which had been lowered into a soft frown – lifted slightly.

"Oh, really?"

He nodded. "They said you'd been expressing some rather verbal doubts about the running of the Ministry of Magic."

Her brow knit again, this time in a rather more anxious expression. He knew that she was imagining him to be working on the side of the ministry, trying to catch out disloyal staff.

"Do you work for Fudge?" she asked, referring to the Minister for Magic. He was mildly surprised at how blunt she was being.

He laughed. "No. My name is Lupin – I work for Albus Dumbledore."

"You're the werewolf," she said suddenly, her air lightening immediately. "You must be dead tired – wasn't the full moon last night? Hang on, though, didn't you resign from Professor Dumbledore's service?"

"Yes. But I still work for him – though in a somewhat different capacity," Lupin replied. He didn't miss that fact that she'd expressed knowledge of his health suffering.

"I get it. So what do you want with me, Mr. Lupin?"

"Remus is fine," he corrected, smiling. "Could we step outside? It's a bit loud in here for my liking."

He led the way up the steep concrete steps and onto the pavement, under the watchful gaze of two or three yellow streetlamps that drained all the colour from their faces. Sirius followed, Tonks in tow. Lupin conducted them left, along the side of the building and into a darkened alcove. Drawing his wand he cast a few distraction and determent charms, and turned to Tonks.

"I represent a secret organisation called the Order of the Phoenix, founded my Professor Dumbledore before Lord Voldemort's first rise to power," he began, keeping a careful watch on Tonk's expression. "I can't give you thorough details of its operations at this particular moment in time, but I can tell you that it has a significant number of members, and that it plays a very active role in attempting to derail Lord Voldemort's plans and impede the actions of his supporters."

"I still don't understand what this has to do with me," Tonks said defensively, after a short pause.

"It's been brought to our attention – you can place the blame for this with Kingsley and Arthur Weasley – that your loyalty the Ministry is… _strained_, at best. The Order is of the opinion that the Ministry is acting very wrongly in its handling of the situation, and we felt perhaps that it might be able to provide you with a method of helping the cause."

"What makes you think," Tonks said slowly, "that I feel I'm not helping the cause enough with my work as an Auror?" She looked vaguely insulted. "And what is this 'situation' supposed to be, anyway?"

Lupin smiled a small, rather grim smile. "Ms. Tonks. You know very well that I'm referring to the return of Lord Voldemort to health and activity. And we feel you most likely do not feel fulfilled in your work because you have spoken to Kingsley on numerous occasions, expressing as much. According to him, you feel that 'the Ministry is playing a dangerous game with ordinary wizard's lives,' and that 'they'd do better to put more effort into trying to catch the bastard than cover-up the fact that he's back'."

Tonks' mouth fell open. Apparently having her own words repeated back to her was enough to convince her.

"I'm still not certain why you think _I'd_ be of any use to you?" she said, after a moment. "There are plenty of other people in the Ministry who feel the same way."

"Yes, but they haven't voiced their complaints in front of Order members," he said coolly. "You're young," Lupin continued, by passing her look of mild annoyance, "agile, energetic. From what I've heard you're sharp-witted and bright, and a talented Auror. Plus it's undeniable that your status within the Ministry has some decided advantages. I'm also aware," he continued, "that having only been a fully-qualified Auror for a year, your workload is likely to consist of a large amount of administration. The Order would give you a good opportunity to use your considerable talents in a much more active manner."

Lupin watched her as she thought about it. He was well aware that this meeting could go one of two ways. Either she would find herself so fascinated and intrigued that she would agree to come with him to meet with some of the other members, or she would state plainly that her loyalty lay with the Ministry, and then attempt to arrest him. He hoped it would not be the latter – he found performing memory charms incredibly unpleasant. However he felt almost certain that she would accompany him: he could sense her interest bubbling just behind her large, dark eyes.

"What kind of 'active'?" she asked shrewdly.

"I can explain more at our headquarters," he said, smiling again. "They are guarded by the Fidelius Charm. You will have to come with me now – you will not be able to find them on your own."

"Now?" she said. More a moment he thought perhaps that he had over-stepped the mark and that she had become suspicious. But then she went on, "but the band's still playing. I paid fifteen galleons more the tickets, Lupin, I'm not leaving yet," she grinned. "You can join me, if you want."

He blinked. "It's not really my sort of gathering, Ms. Tonks. I'm a bit—"

"You're not that old," she said candidly. "What are you? Thirty-two, thirty-three?"

"Thirty-five," he said, shocked at her guessing an age younger than his actually was. Ordinarily he was perceived as vastly older. "But still. It's only a day since the full moon. I'm in no fit state."

"You look fine to me," she argued. She looked at him for a moment. Just as he was about to restate that he most certainly should not, she opened her mouth again. "I'm not taking no for an answer, Lupin."

He swallowed. In truth, he couldn't think of anything he wanted to do less than return to the noise and the bustle downstairs. But if that was what it was going to take to secure her trust, he really had no choice but to follow Tonks.

"It's Remus," he said again, and she beamed.

"Good," she said. "What about the dog?"

"He can come too. I don't expect he'd let me tie him up outside and have him miss all the fun."

Sirius let out a sharp whine, and tipped his head to the side.

&

It was nearly two o'clock in the morning by the time Tonks allowed them to leave. Lupin was tired, his muscles and bones seemed to ache beyond all belief, and Sirius had gone positively insane with the unscheduled freedom. Lupin tried carefully to conceal his many aches and pains, and the feeling of unhappiness that was eating away at the edges of his mind, but as they walked quietly away from the still thumping sounds of the underground concert, Lupin found his skull felt as though it had tightened uncomfortably around his brain, and before long he was nursing a rather nasty headache. He of course did not make Tonks aware of this.

"So where're we going," she asked.

"I can't tell you that," he said briefly, his heart pumping abnormally hard from the loudness and smokiness of the bar.

Tonks glanced at him sideways.

"Is there anything you can tell me?" she asked. "I mean, I'm sorry, but in my job I have to be dead suspicious of everyone – as Mad-Eye's probably told you, if you really do know him – and you're not making it easy for me to trust you."

He nodded. "Yes, I understand that. Unfortunately there's little I can do about it. As a group, the Order is at very real risk if we allow ourselves to be discovered by Ministry officials or Deatheaters alike." He glanced down to where Sirius was walking very close on his heel. "There is one thing I suppose I could tell you. There is a high probability you won't believe it anyway, so its detriment to us is minimal."

She shrugged. "What is it?"

"This dog is really Sirius Black."

Tonks froze. She glanced down to the dog, who was staring at her avidly. Her eyes narrowed.

"Prove it," she said, smirking slightly. Clearly she thought he was joking, or bluffing.

"Certainly. Sirius," he said, turning to the dog. "If you really are Sirius Black, raise your left paw."

The dog did so. Tonks scoffed.

"Come off it – you think I'm going to believe this mutt is Sirius Black, escaped convict, murderer, betrayer of Lily and James Potter, Godfather to Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived? Sorry, mate," she laughed, "not bloody likely. You'll have to do better than that. All you have here is well-trained dog."

Lupin raised an eyebrow.

"Sirius, if you really are Sirius, raise your left paw. Then stand on your hind legs, perform three circles chasing your tail and bark seven times."

Again, the dog performed each action flawlessly, and then sat, watching Tonks with an expression of supreme smugness. She still shook her head.

"An _exceptionally_ well-trained dog. I need more," she laughed.

"You'll have to wait, then," Lupin said, smiling at her refusal to accept the dog's true identity. "We have to Apparate. As you do not know where are going, we'll need to Side-Along. Is that alright?"

"It'll have to be, won't it?" she said, holding out her arm but drawing her wand at the same time. Lupin took hold of the top of her arm, firmly but gently, with one hand, and took a tight hold on the scruff of Sirius's neck with the other, and raised his wand.

With a soft pop, they landed three streets away from the Order's headquarters. Tonks looked around as Sirius bounded off up the street and through a passage way that cut between two rather austere-looking houses.

"Where are we?"

Replacing his wand in the pocket of his overcoat, Lupin set off after Sirius.

"It's not far. You'll need to read this." He pushed the piece of parchment that read: _'The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at Number Twelve Grimauld Place'_ into her hand. "Memorize it, please."

They reached Grimauld Place swiftly, and Lupin looked down at Tonks, whose eyes were still repeatedly travelling over the paper.

"Done?" he asked. She nodded.

He took the parchment back and set fire to it in his hand, before vanishing the ashes.

She glanced up, to see that Grimauld Place had been expectedly plunged into utter blackness as Lupin used Dumbledore's Put-Outer to douse the streetlamps. She also did a double take when she evidently noticed that a house that had not been there a moment ago had appeared between numbers eleven and thirteen. Lupin wasted not time in silently crossing the square and jogging up the stone steps to slip through the front door.

"If you could keep your voice down, Ms. Tonks. It's rather late."

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_R & R PLEASE!_


	2. The Order of the Phoenix

_Hi, second chapter here. Again, hasn't been beta-ed - it's probably not even readable, but if you want to volunteer for the job, please, please, PLEASE drop me a line! Thanks, Vickalo._

_Here you are then - and please tell me what you reckon._

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**Chapter Two – The Order of the Phoenix**

"What in Merlin's name took you so long, Lupin?" came the unmistakable growl of Mad-Eye Moody as soon as Lupin had led her across the dark and curtained hallway and down into the basement kitchen of the old house. He glared at Lupin as he and Tonks descended the stairs, Tonks following Lupin cautiously, Moody's electric blue eye fixed solidly on Lupin's face.

"The question should be what in Merlin's Cauldron took me so long," Lupin said wearily, throwing a tired look in her direct. Tonks shrugged.

"I paid good money to see that band, Mad-Eye," she said. "I wasn't about to just walk out because your boy here told me to. Now, could you please explain what's going on, and why I'm here, of all places," she said irritably, glancing around the rundown kitchen. "I'm tired of being kept in the dark."

"First thing's first," Lupin interrupted, lowering himself into a chair by the stove and flicking his wand at the range cooker to initiate a blaze. "Sirius…" he gestured over Tonks' shoulder. She turned around, only to find herself face to face with Sirius Black, his long black hair drawn back into a pony tail, his face gaunt and haggard, but his eyes crinkled into a bright grin.

"Didn't believe it was me, eh, Tonks?" he said softly. He let out a sharp, bark-like laugh. "Don't blame you. Cousin Andromeda did teach you well. Thanks for keeping Mooney at the bar though – I had a great time. Haven't been allowed out in public for months."

Tonks wanted to find something bright or witty to say, but luckily her muteness was covered by Moody laying into Black. Inside, though, her insides were frozen – she was stuck somewhere between disbelief and panic. She was trapped in an invisible house with a murderous lunatic, a werewolf, and a mad-as-a-hatter ex-Auror.

"You shouldn't have been out tonight," Mad-Eye snapped. "Dumbledore told you specifically not to go, Black, and so did Molly and so did I – do you have any idea what kind of a security risk you were, running around Norwich when Voldemort's followers are out and walking the streets, when they know damn well that you are who you are—"

"Mad-Eye, please," Lupin chipped-in. "Sirius was perfectly well-behaved."

"You shouldn't have let him go either, Lupin. You had a job to do, you shouldn't have been baby-sitting this—"

"Hey! I'm not a child, Mad-Eye, and I'm sick of hiding and being cooped up in this stupid house. I hate it here; I always have, ever since I was sixteen—"

"That's not any concern," Mad-Eye barked. "You could have fouled up the whole operation. I should punish you, Sirius, but I don't think anything I could do to you would teach you."

Sirius nodded. "I think you're right. So just lay-off, yeah?"

"Oh, I will," Moody replied, adding, in a dangerously low voice, "but just you wait until I tell Molly."

What little colour was left in Black's face left it.

"You wouldn't."

"Try me, Black."

Tonks stared as Black and Mad-Eye glared at each other across the kitchen table. She suddenly caught sight of Remus Lupin watching her, and it kicked her out of her state of bewilderment.

Growing impatient, and not a little worried, Tonks whipped her wand from her pocket and sent a jet of sparks from it, drawing their attention. "Excuse me," she said, politely. "But I'm more confused than ever. Can someone tell me what the hell's going on?"

Lupin stood up quickly – more quickly than she'd thought him able to, considering how tired he seemed earlier.

"Ah, yes. Sorry. This," he gestured around the kitchen, "is the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters. Or at least it will be, once it's been decontaminated. You already know Alastor Moody: I believe he was part of the group that enlisted new recruits to the Ministry a few years ago."

"Yes," Tonks nodded, remembering. "You were on the board. You told me to work extra hard on Stealth and Tracking after I tripped over your wooden leg."

Moody grinned, a scar on his cheek stretching horribly. "And did you?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" she replied, indignantly.

Moody chuckled.

"And this, of course, is Sirius Black," Lupin continued. "He was one of my best friends at Hogwarts, along with James Potter."

She raised her wand and pointed it between Black's eyes. "Last time I checked, you were a convicted murderer."

"_Wrongly_ convicted murderer," he replied smoothly, eying her wand. "I'm innocent."

"Why am I not surprised?" she said. "Explanation, now, please. As concise as you can."

"Now here's someone who knows their _constant vigilance_," Moody rumbled approvingly. "Black was framed, Tonks. A boy called Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potters, not Black. Black, Potter, and Pettigrew were unregistered Animagus, and when Black cornered Pettigrew after the Potters' death, Pettigrew blew up half the street and cut off his finger before her transformed. For twelve years he hid with a wizarding family, until he returned to Voldemort's service last year, and Black escaped with a hippogriff called Buckbeak. Concise enough for you?"

"Concise, yes, but I need proof."

"All you can have is our word that it's true, and Dumbledore's," Mad-Eye grunted.

"Dumbledore believes it?"

"Yes," Lupin said. "Just as he believes that Voldemort has indeed returned and is recruiting followers, which the Ministry is endeavouring to hide. You yourself must have seen enough evidence of that coming into Auror Headquarters alone to believe it true?"

True enough, the signs were there: mysterious deaths, disappearances. Unusual activity in dark magic hotspots that had been dead for years. About thirteen years, in fact.

"Hang on, though, isn't Black meant to be in Bulgaria at the moment?" Tonks frowned, latching onto this incongruity, and looking at Lupin but glancing at Black.

"Who's in charge of looking for Sirius, Tonks?" Lupin said gently.

She smiled. "Kingsley Shacklebolt. I see. He's working with you?"

"Yes. And Arthur Weasley."

Tonks sat down at the table and shoved her wand into her belt.

"I know that this might all seem a bit far-fetched, Tonks," Lupin said kindly. "Especially as we can't offer you any proof."

She looked up at Lupin, who was standing over her with a look of concern on his face. She sighed. "To be honest, I'd have no problem believing any of it, if I could hear it from Dumbledore. But I don't know you people." She glanced up. "Moody, I'd trust you – but there's a reason you're called Mad-Eye, and it's not solely optical." Sirius and Lupin shared a smirk. "Sirius, no offence, you're a murderer, and Remus – met you five hours ago. No idea what you're like."

"You'll like him," Sirius said. "Mooney's the one who keeps the rest of us in line."

"We would have had Dumbledore here," Lupin said. "But it's actually your fault he isn't. You kept me so long at Merlin's Cauldron that he would have left here hours ago. The Order meeting finished at nine o'clock."

She couldn't feel guilty or sorry – so was too tired and too confused. Some of it must have shown on her face, because Lupin, looking worried, said,

"I think that's enough for tonight. Come on, Tonks, I'll walk you home."

Nodding, she rose, almost surprised that she wasn't being murdered._ There's still time, _she thought, as she and Remus stepped out into the cold air and he walked her to the end of the street.

"Where do you live?" he asked, leading her away from Grimauld Place.

"Flat near Diagon Alley," she said. "I might stop at the Leaky Cauldron first, though – I could use a stiff drink."

Remus smiled. "I'm not surprised. I felt similarly when I first joined the Order."

She raised an eyebrow. She found it hard to believe that Lupin had ever been new to it. "When did you join?"

"When I left Hogwarts," he said. "I was eighteen."

"Young and carefree?"

"Never carefree," he said. "Certainly younger than I am now."

She peered at his lined face, bent so that it was half-covered by the collar of his overcoat. He looked like someone who had a world of trouble on his narrow shoulders. His hair was greying around the temples, but thick and long enough to fall into a fringe over his eyes on one side.

Having turned a corner into a deserted street, they both raised their wands. The familiar feeling of being squeezed through a tube seized her, and the next moment they both landed outside the door to the Leaky Cauldron. Without speaking, they entered and took up seats near the fire. Tom the barman – who, it appeared, did not sleep, even though it was three o'clock in the morning – bustled over with hot chocolate for Lupin, and mulled mead Tonks.

She couldn't decide if she trusted what she had seen during her evening. On the one hand, their explanations of certain things happening within the Ministry explained a lot of the questions she herself had asked. On the other hand, they had provided her with no evidence and no Dumbledore. There was no reason on Earth why she shouldn't think, as best, that this was someone's idea of a rather elaborate joke, or at worst, someone's way of trying to lure her away from where she was safe so that she could be killed or tortured to get information on the Ministry. The latter option didn't seem likely – for a start, she was too junior in the Ministry to be of any great help. Secondly, if they wanted to kill her, they would've done it when all three were together and could have taken down a fully trained Auror. Why would anyone lie about this, though? If there was a secret organisation, surely they were risking an awful lot just blurting it all out to her. What if she told someone? What if she passed her information to the Minister for Magic?

"Why does the Order want me to join?" she said, voicing something that had been circling her head for a while. "There are more important people in the Ministry than me."

"Exactly," Lupin said. "You're in a position to infiltrate with minimal attention being drawn to you. Plus, Alastor Moody seems to think you have something we need."

"What's that," she asked, cautiously.

"All your teeth," Remus replied. At her quite frankly oblivious expression, he said, "Mad-Eye seems to think that we need young blood," he said, eyeing her luminously blue hair.

She smirked. "I'm not denying that you lot look out of practise," she said, looking away from Lupin into the fire.

There was a long pause, during which Lupin quietly sipped his hot chocolate, and Tonks took down her mead in three or four hefty gulps, then sat and gazed at the side of Lupin's head.

"I know it must be difficult for you to accept that any of what you've heard is true," he said softly. "All I can offer is my word that it is. Dumbledore has given me chance upon change to prove myself, and I continue to work under his guidance for the good of those I care about. The Order can offer you the same thing, but I understand if you need Dumbledore's assurance first."

Tonks nodded slowly. "Thanks. I'm not exactly convinced, I have to say. Not yet."

For a moment, Lupin looked genuinely stung. Perhaps he had been hoping that she would express a more definite answer, or take his declaration more to heart. But his look of hurt flitted away as quickly as it had arrived, and before long Lupin was dropping her off at her door.

"The next meeting is on Thursday night. I can pick you up, if you decide you'd like to hear more?"

She looked at him. His face was expressionless, but she knew he was hoping that all his running about tonight until the early hours of the morning was worth it.

"Pick me up from the Ministry around five. We can get something to eat before the meeting."

Lupin smiled broadly. "Good. See you next week."

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_R & R cheers, m'dears._


	3. Initiation

_Chapter Three, sorry for the delay. Please read and review when you're done, or it makes finding the enthhusiasm to go on rather lacking. Though I will anyway, because I love Lupin and Tonks._

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**Chapter Three – Initiation**

"So why haven't you just spiked my drink with Veritaserum or something, to find out whether or not I'm trust-worthy?" Tonks asked, looking stonily across the table at Lupin.

The ex-Professor looked thoughtfully at her over the rim of his tea-cup, as if he were sizing her up. Only now did she notice how pale his eyes were – a sort of watered down caramel brown.

"Because Veritaserum can be fooled," Lupin said. "As you very well know, as an Auror. Any magical method can be fooled, given time and expertise."

"True. But with the Order's circumstances, don't you think it would be worth a shot?"

Lupin shrugged. "Quite possibly. But there is the matter of Dumbledore. He believes that the ends cannot justify the means, and he thinks it would be unethical to administer it to potential members. I tend to agree."

"Isn't there any other way you can ensure the safety of the Order?" Tonks asked, intrigued. When Lupin had picked her up earlier, she'd told him that she was coming around the idea of the Order. It had been brought on by two very important things. Firstly, she'd opened the door to the Auror Headquarters that morning to find that three small children had been strangled by Deatheaters revenging on their parents, and then discovering that the Ministry had no leads, no clues and no proof to set about doing anything about it. She had felt so unbelievably helpless that she'd wanted to kick something very, very hard, but remembered that she now had an opportunity to do something about it. Secondly, when she'd actually reached her cubicle, she'd found a mountainous heap of paperwork awaiting her. She needed to help, she needed to do something, and she couldn't do anything while she was lashed to the Ministry.

"Not really," Lupin replied. "There's no definite way, at least. At the moment the best we can do is to be very careful about whom we choose to approach."

Tonks frowned. "But you just met with me in a club?"

Lupin shook his head. "No. Far more work was put into it than that. We sort out various members of your family – Sirius included – who told us about your past. We spoke to your teachers, your friends from school, your trainers at the Auror department…"

Disbelieving that she would have had such a thorough investigation, Tonks gaped. She was also slightly unnerved by the fact that she hadn't noticed all the interest in her. Her concern must have shown, because Lupin reassured her.

"Don't worry, you didn't notice because we're exceptionally good, not because of any fault on your part."

She wasn't quite convinced.

"Without Dumbledore's word, I'm still not sure."

Lupin nodded. "I understand. Luckily that's why we're here. The meeting begins in an hour or so, and Dumbledore should be able to allay any fears."

Tonks said nothing and picked up her cup, looking around the café in which they were seated. It was full of ordinary people doing ordinary things. Not one of them would suspect that she and the rag-tag gentleman she sat with were discussing the business of an elite group of wizards fighting a Dark Lord over tea and scones.

&

"OK then, I believe you," Tonks grinned. Dumbledore had just made a hurried exit, and the scattered members remaining at Grimauld Place for Molly's supper were packing away the various scrolls, parchments and diagrams that littered the room, the rest – including Severus Snape – where moving in Dumbledore's wake, up the staircase into the dark hallway above. "Oh, and I'm _so_ in," she added, as an after thought.

Lupin nodded briskly, moving towards the stove and placing the kettle over the hob. "Good. We need all the support we can get. And Dumbledore speaks very highly of you."

Tonks' eyebrows jerked upwards.

"Really?"

"Oh yes, dear," Molly said, bustling in from the pantry, carrying a massive sack of flower, presumably to make the dumplings with. "He's been asking Moody to get you involved in the Order for a few weeks now." While Tonks digested this clearly surprising revelation, Molly struggled to lift the heavy sack on to the counter top. Tonks dashed over.

"Here let me help…"

"Oh," Molly shifted some of the weight towards Tonks. "Thank you so much, dear, it's just like men never to offer to—"

She never finished her sentence. Tonks' grip had slipped on the bag just as she'd managed to lift the corner high enough to slide it onto the counter, and before anyone could do anything about it, it had fallen from her grasp and split. Its contents skidded across the checked tiles, flying halfway across the room as a large white cloud engulfed the kitchen table and those around it.

Amongst pronounced coughing and spluttering, and the combined gasps and stifled sneezing noises of everyone in the vicinity, Tonks' decidedly angry voice cried out.

"Bollocks!"

"_Reparo_," said Remus, and a brief light flashed through the fog, signalling his repairing the flour sack. "It's alright, Tonks, could have happened to anyone."

"No, it couldn't," she sighed apologetically, running a hand through her hair. "Clearly nobody's told you how unbelievably clumsy I am, yet. This is the latest in a long line of accidents and calamities that follow me around like a niffler after gold."

Remus chuckled. "It's only a bag on flour."

"No, honestly, you wait. This sort of thing will become a regular occurrence before long."

"Well as long it accompanies your presence, we'll take it as a good omen."

Tonks peered through the swirling fog at Lupin, who was running his wand through the air, muttering a few quiet cleaning spells as he went. She cocked her head. She thought that may have been the first time that someone had referred to her clumsiness as anything other than an utter pain in the arse.

She pointed her wand at the pile of flour on the floor, then thought again.

"Er… Remus?"

He glanced up.

"I'm… Well, I'm not too good at cleaning spells either. Could you…? Only I don't want to make even more—"

Remus smiled, held up a hand to quiet her, and flicked his wand at the floor.

"_Scourify_… There you are. If you could take what's left of the flour and put it back on the counter? The bag should be lighter now."

Tonks blinked. He was asking her to finish cleaning up? That was new. Normally people just swooped in, cleaned up her mess, and banished her from the area.

She was particularly cautious as she set down the flour on the side and made sure she retreated out of the kitchen area as quickly – and carefully – as possible, and sat down on the other side of the room in the small sitting room area. She watched Molly and Remus pottering around, preparing supper. The others had all exited or had moved upstairs to the lounge. She was feeling quite warm – the Order was clearly a very special place. It seemed full to bursting with kind, noble, selfless people, all with their own history and life and un-bringing. It had a level of tolerance that the Ministry could only dream of. She told Remus as much when he wandered over to sit with her a few moments later, after Molly ushered him out of her work space. Passing her a cup of tea, he smiled a wry smile.

"Tolerant? Yes, I understand that. Actually, you have no idea just how tolerant these people are."

She looked at him through the steam rising out of her own cup as it heated her face, while he took a long drink from his own. His thoughts seemed rather distracted, perhaps by his own comment.

"Are you going to give me an idea? Or are we going to play a guessing game? I'm dead good at twenty questions." She grinned, but Lupin only returned the glance half-heartedly. Her expression fell. "Come on, Remus. I'm all ears."

She had a sudden thought. Screwing up her nose, she pushed out her ears. When she opened her eyes again, Lupin did a double-take and his mouth fell open. Then one corner quirked up.

"You're Metamorphmagi?"

She nodded. "Very good, Professor Lupin."

He laughed. "I see you heard I taught at Hogwarts?"

"Oh yes, Moody was eager to relate that little gem. He seemed to think it important."

Lupin smiled again, but it was very restrained. Tonks suddenly remembered that it would be very tricky to be serious with someone whose ears were currently so wide that fitting through a door would only just succeed. She concentrated hard again, closing her eyes tightly, and felt them retreat back to their usual size.

"You've leant my greatest secret, Lupin, I'm owed yours," she said quietly, fixing him as stubbornly as she could. "I'm a member now – there's nothing you can't tell me."

"I barely know you," he said quickly, but softly, and in just as considered a manner as he ordinarily spoke.

She smiled. "Don't hold that against me."

He looked at her, very steadily for a few moments, taking a drink. He lowered his mug to his lap, and fixed his eyes on it.

"The rest of the Order is well-acquainted with this information. There's no way in which it would be hidden from you." He looked up, as if he needed to see her reaction. "I'm a werewolf."

"I know."

The shock in his eyes was plain to see, even though the only signs were his eyebrows lifting and his lips parting slightly.

"You know?"

"Yes." She grinned. "I'm an Auror; you're a dangerous Dark creature. Of course I've heard of you. Pleasure to meet you, though." She took another drink from her cup, stifling a laugh at Lupin's somewhat dazed expression. "Don't worry, Remus, you're secrets safe with me. And I do appreciate your trust in me." She bit her lip. "I also appreciate you letting me clean up my mess earlier. Normally people just want me out of the way as soon as possible."

Lupin shrugged. "I don't think that allowing you to help clean up mess that you made yourself should be considered all that important."

"You would if you were me," she replied.

&

Tonks arrived, bright and early, at Grimauld Place the next morning. Moody had told her the night before that she would get her first assignment before she went to work at the Ministry the next day, but when she rang the doorbell, a succession of things happened that she had not expected to. Firstly, a great amount of very loud shouting began in the hallway, though it was muffled through the door. In conjunction with that, when the door opened a few moments later, after a series of thumps, bumps and the unmistakable sound of several people running down stairs, she was faced with a pair of bright, hazel eyes and a mane of long, red hair.

"You must be Tonks," she the girl. "I'm Ginny. Sorry about the noise, the doorbell set off Mrs. Black." She stepped aside to let her in.

"Who?"

"Mrs. Black. The portrait? Hasn't Sirius introduced you yet? That should be a treat for you." Tonks looked at Ginny. She was smiling a small, knowing smile.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but I still don't know who—"

"Nymphadora."

Tonks spun around, drawing her wand and jabbing it straight into Charlie Weasley's chest. "I told you that if I ever heard you call me that again I'd jinx your balls off, Weasley, and don't you think I won't."

There was a sort of strangled silence in the previously chaotic hallway as everyone else turned to see what she had shouted for. Only the shrill cries of a large dark painting remained.

Charlie coughed, and lowered her hand gently. "Sorry, Tonks, it slipped my mind."

"You know Tonks?" came another voice, this time of Lupin, as he twisted through the milling people in the hall, who Tonks only just noticed all had bright red hair. "Good morning," he added, smiling. "I see you've met the Weasley children?"

Tonks looked around at the freckled faces. Two identical faces attached to short, stocky, Charlie-like builds; two taller, thinner people, one edging on sixteen, the other much older, maybe in his twenties, and Ginny, who was built somewhere in between, but seemed to have perfected the art of appearing bigger than she was.

"Tonks and I were at Hogwarts together," Charlie grinned. "She never did agree to go out with me. Still a no on that front then?"

"Still a no."

He shrugged. "Can't blame a guy for trying. I've really got to go, Remus—"

Lupin appeared to realise that there was no way anyone was going anywhere unless they cleared a few people out of the hall. He raised his voice.

"Anyone whose shorter than five-foot-six or hasn't left Hogwarts yet, down into the kitchen _now_, please."

"Does that include me?" Tonks asked.

Lupin frowned. "Why ever would it?"

She smirked. "Five-foot-four."

He peered at her. "You're not, are you?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"Oh. Well then you can be the exception that proves the rule."

In time, most of the Weasley's had shuffled off down stairs, leaving Arthur Weasley, the balding father, Mad-Eye, Lupin, herself, Sirius and the oldest Weasley child, who she recognised as Bill Weasley, and a blonde woman she didn't know, standing at the portrait and forcing the curtains closed. After a few moments of muffled screaming, it quietened.

"Tonks, don't use the doorbell," Moody panted gruffly. "Plays havoc with that bloody picture."

&

_R & R PLEASE! What shall be Tonks and Remus's first adventure? I could also do with ideas for a new title for the story - Bubblegum Moon is awful._


	4. Forms of Wit

**Chapter Four – Forms of Wit**

Charlie, it turned out, was in a hurry to leave because he desperately needed to get back to Romania and back to his dragons. Tonks snorted when she Remus told her: the reason she'd said no to him that many years ago was because he was more concerned with Quidditch and Care Of Magical Creatures than he was with girls. After helping Lupin and the others coax the portrait back into silence, they descended the stairs into the kitchen, where they found the Weasley children being loudly chastised by Mrs. Weasley for getting in the way of what she called 'Order business'.

"But why won't you tell us what you're doing?" one of the twins moaned. "Come on, we're of age now, you have to tell us!"

"No, Fred, we don't. For a start, you might be of age," Mrs. Weasley said haughtily, "but you are still at school."

"That never normally stops us," his brother muttered, under his breath. Unfortunately, Molly appeared to hear.

"Now stop it! I've got things to be doing, Tonks here is waiting to speak to Moody and Remus, and there's a whole house upstairs which is utterly filthy and that _you_," she jabbed a finger at the twins, "and the others are going to help me decontaminate."

The twins erupted into a joint marathon of complaints, but Mrs. Weasley just carried on shepherding them back up the stairs, followed by the taller, freckled one and the girl, both echoing their brothers' grumbles. Tonks grinned after them, but was soon serious again and Remus sat down at the kitchen table opposite where she stood and nodded towards a chair.

"Remus, we've got to make a move," Bill said, sticking his head – and its long ponytail – fair enough down the staircase to be heard. "Fleur…"

"We'll see you at the next meeting, Bill," Remus replied smoothly, before turned back to her.

"So, do I get my first mission, then?" she beamed, excited. Remus seemed to be working hard not to smile.

"It's not quite as glamorous as that, Tonks," he said. "It's more of an errand. And it's voluntary – so there's a good chance you won't be on your own. I'll be there, so will Moody, for a start."

"What about Sirius?" Tonks said, suddenly realising that he wasn't there.

"He's feeding Buckbeak," Lupin said gently, as Moody lurched into the room from the pantry.

"Sulking, more like," Mad-Eye growled. "Bloody whiner – doesn't he see why we can't let him out? He could jeopardize the whole operation."

"He understands, Mad-Eye," Remus said smoothly. "But Sirius is a man of action. Believe me, I've known him long enough to understand that the one torture that would unsettle him more than anything else was not being able to help the Order in a more active fashion."

"But he came out to get me?" Tonks frowned.

"Yes, and look at the trouble he could have got you lot all into." Mad-Eye thrust the paper under her nose, but she didn't need to read it. She'd read hers this morning, though the news of the latest Deatheater attacks all seemed to blend into one, there were so many of them.

"Sirius's Animagi disguise doesn't work with the Deatheaters?" Tonks asked.

"No," Lupin said. "Since Peter Pettigrew returned to Voldemort's side—" He paused, draw by the sharp intake of breath from Tonks. She'd been so surprised that he'd just come out and said You-Know-Who's name that she hadn't had a choice but to jump slightly. "—Voldemort has probably been made aware of Sirius's abilities in that area," Lupin continued.

Tonks nodded. She was a bit ashamed of herself for giving away her discomfort with the use of the name quite so openly, especially in front of someone who clearly had no qualms with it at all.

"So… the miss— errand?" she said lightly.

"Ah, yes," Lupin nodded. "We're going to get Harry."

There was a surprisingly long pause, as if Remus hadn't expected her to be quite so startled, and hadn't thought of anything to fill the sudden gap. But Tonks _had_ been startled – she'd not even considered that Harry Potter would be this close to the members of the Order. The thought of him even knowing about it was a quite a shock.

"Harry Potter?" she repeated, staring at Remus.

"Yes."

"_The_ Harry Potter?"

"No, no, actually it's a completely un-related Harry Potter who happens to share his name."

Tonks quirked an eyebrow. "There's no need be sarcastic, Lupin."

He was regarding her with a not-entirely unfamiliar-looking smirk. "Oh?"

"No. I'm sorry if all this is a bit new to me, but there's no call for—"

"Nymphadora, please, relax. I was just trying to let you know that it's not all work here. Some of us actually have personalities. We make good friends, you know."

Tonks smiled wryly. "Yeah, because all my friends are werewolves and tomb-breakers and dragon-tamers and Veela-descendants…"

Lupin frowned. "Who is a Veela-descendant?"

"That Fleur person. Blondie. Couldn't you tell?"

"Er… no, no I couldn't," he replied, frowning to himself. Tonks guessed that he wasn't usually caught out – he was normally quite aware of everything.

"Don't worry, Remus, I'm sure you're not the first great thinker to be distracted in the presence of a beautiful blond," she joked.

"No, I didn't—"

"Joke, Remus. You need to lighten up."

"Says Miss There's No Need To Be Sarcastic…"

"Yes, but sarcasm is, after all, the lowest form of wit, Lupin," she retorted blithely. "So, come on, when are we going to get _the_ Harry Potter, then?"

"In a fortnight or so. Dumbledore says we're to leave him at the Dursley's – they're relatives he's staying with – for as long as possible," Lupin told her. "In the mean time, we're meant to decontaminate the house. Well… they are," he added, nodding upwards, to indicate the troop of Weasley's just exited. "We've got something entirely more important to do."

"I'm listening," Tonks replied, intrigued, leaning forwards and resting her elbows on the table. Lupin leant forwards as well.

"We've got to take a trip to Scotland."

"Oh good," she said.

"Tonks, now really, sarcasm really is a very low form of wit."

&

Tonks repeated her morning drop-in three days later, to find Remus had moved an armchair close to the stove in the kitchen, and was sitting quietly waiting for the rest of the house to get up, with a book in one hand and a bowl in the other.

"Oooh, _Weetabix_, can I have some?"

He looked up. "Oh, good morning, Tonks." He nodded towards the kitchen table, where the cereal packet sat next to three or four others, several plates of toast, bacon, and sausages, and a bowl of baked beans, steaming. Tonks summoned the milk from the pantry.

"How do you know about _Weetabix_?" she asked. "It's a Muggle food."

Remus shrugged. "I've dabbled in Muggle habits over the years. I find it sheds a unique light on situations."

"Spoken like a true Muggle-lover," she jibed. "My dad was Muggle-born. That's how my mother was discredited. She was Sirius's aunt."

"His favourite, if I recall." He stood and took his bowl over the sink to rinse it, and Tonks', once she'd finished. "I think we should leave as soon as possible – Molly went to get the children out of bed—"

She raised a hand. "Say no more – if we don't go, we'll never be able to get out of hallway in the throng."

They had just reached the door when the sound of at least three elephants running full pelt down the stairs started up. Before Remus could ever get a hand on the latch, what seemed like seven or either – but what Remus later assured her had been only five – Weasleys piled down the stairs, all bleary-eyed and grumbling, and then wandered off towards the kitchen. Tonks caught a fragment of Ginny's conversation.

"—but I don't know how to tell. Imperturbable charms by their nature are hard to put your finger on…"

Tonks tapped her in the shoulder. "Try throwing things at the door," she whispered. "If they just zoom straight off without bouncing, it's Imperturabled." Ginny nodded and stalked off after the others, eyeing the sitting room door as she passed.

The fog was still low over the ground when they managed to manoeuvre themselves into the overgrown front yard, but the sun was clearly making a valiant attempt to break through, so it felt they were inside a great, sunlit cloud.

"It'd be nice weather if it wasn't for the damn fog," Tonks grumbled, pulling her ivy green coat a bit tighter. Her hair this morning was long and wavy, and caught in a ponytail that fell to below her waist and was a shade of ivory blond. She looked a bit like a stocky, more tomboyish version of Fleur, plus curling irons.

"British weather, even in July, is somewhat erratic, though," Remus replied, standing aside for her to pass through a passageway and onto the pavement next to a main road. Some of the cars had their head lights lit, and all had their fog lights blazing dully.

"I've got three days leave from the Ministry coming up at the end of the week," Tonks told him. "So now would be the time if the Order needs anything done."

Lupin looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure about Order work, but there might something I may require a little help with." He didn't elaborate, and she was saved the trouble questioning further by him slipping, somewhat suddenly, through a gate in a tall, thick flint hall, which seemed to lead into a grave yard.

This was apparently his chosen Apparition point. He held out his arm, indicating that they were using Side-Along, and she tucked her hand under his thin overcoat.

They re-appeared outside a small and deserted-looking inn, surrounded by golden-coloured fields with browner furrows cut into them, and darker fields, where the thick clumps of soil had been turned so that they resembled the cracked icing on a vast chocolate cake. They were part-way down a muddied lane, where puddles stretched right across the beaten track and grass spilled over from nettle-strewn land either side.

"The Ten Bells," Remus said, nodding towards a farm house lodge at the end of the trail and slipping his wand back into his pocket. "We're meeting a gentleman – and I use the term loosely – named Sai Long."

Tonks straightened her coat. "What do you need me to do?"

Remus cast her a private-looking smile. "You're the Auror. You tell me. We need him to tell us how to get to a place near Dumfries. All we know is that it's the base for a lot of prominent Deatheater activity, and we need to locate it. It's called Craagmortis."

"Sounds… sunny," Tonks said wryly, smirking.

Remus chuckled. "Quite."

"Well, leave it to me," Tonks said assuredly. "Watch and learn, Lupin, watch and learn…"

&

_Yes, I'm perfectly aware that I've used the name the Ten Bells before, during my_ One Night _fic, for a completely different location. But having visited the Ten Bells in Norwich – (opposite the_ Norwich Arts Centre_, for anyone in the neighbourhood) – and declared it one of my favourite pubs, I really like slipping it into stories. You'll also find a description of it in Chapter Three of _Conversion_ – it's the tea shop where Ginny sees Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Camilla._

_Also apologies to Nathan – I just had to go with Craagmortis. It won't leave me alone and I'm sorry, but I like the name. Plus you weren't here to remind me of the alternatives._

_Thanks to reviewers, keep it up please! Taking note from MrsTater and Lady Bracknell, in the hopes in generating more review response, anyone who reviews this chapter will receive either a fun Remus who will take the mick shamelessly before having to grovel to make it up to you, or cosy Remus who'll share his _Weetabix -_ and other breakfast treats..._


	5. One For The Road

_Thank you again to reviewers – in particular KTR, who gave a thorough review that I appreciated a lot. And yes, she's right – Andromeda was Sirius's cousin, not aunt. Sorry! (Begs forgiveness.)_

_Just so you all know, there's every chance that this'll be the last of the frequent updates. Don't Panic! It won't be the last (not by a long shot) but college looms, and I've got many other wonderful and time-consuming projects underway as well, and I simply don't know if I'll find the time to update all the stories. So I'll try and leave you without too much of a cliff-hanger._

_Lastly, sorry about the delay on this one. I had to go back to college a few days after my last update, and now time is scarce to say the least, but I'm doing all I can._

&

**Chapter Five – One For The Road**

Remus was getting vaguely concerned for Tonk's well-being. He'd been nestled behind a particularly dense section of the hedgerow that lined the track leading up to the Ten Bells for nearly forty minutes, and was pretty much certain that if she wasn't out in five minutes, he'd have to go in. He had no inclination to go in there – the last thing he wanted her to think was that he didn't think she could take care of herself. If nothing else, he knew that he thought nothing of the sort, but Tonks was used to members of the Order treating her as though she were no older than Harry and the others. He wasn't about to justify her having to justify herself to him as well.

He looked out across the fields before him, his back resting against a fence embedded into the foliage. The English countryside often looked to him like a great patchwork quilt: interlaced colours of greens and coffees and golden-browns, and patterns: spots where great rolls of hay had been knitted together and left in the open for collection; stripes, formed from line upon line of corn; swirls where meadows formed in the disused patches.

"Boo!"

Despite all his reasoned and rational thought, despite everything he knew about Tonks, and everything he knew about Deatheaters' tendency _not_ to say 'boo' before attacking, he jumped.

Tonks laughed heartily as he scrambled to his feet and drew his wand, watching him over the top of the hedge.

"You prat," she said, smirking.

"You made me jump!" he said defensively, stuffing his wand back into his pocket huffily, feigning annoyance.

"That much," Tonks said slowly, "is evident."

Lupin huffed. "You know, I was just considering that you are, in fact, a lot more mature than the rest of the Order give you credit for. I may have to re-evaluate, now."

Tonks scoffed. "Oh, come on, I was only winding you up. My mother and father still try and out-prank each other, even now. Doesn't mean I can't be mature when I want to be."

Remus sniffed. "Did you get the directions?"

"Oh, so now you want to hear about my maturity and competence…"

Remus chuckled, in spite of himself. "Yes. I do," he said.

"Hmmm," Tonks muttered, looking sceptically at him from behind her navy blue fringe, but drawing from her pocket as she did so a long, thin scroll.

"That looks promising," Remus said hopefully, and Tonks grinned.

"Well… in a manner of speaking. We should wait until we get back to Grimauld before we take a look though," she said, tapping his nose with the scroll and trampling off across the field.

Remus suddenly felt like he didn't really want to go back to the dingy, dimly lit kitchen of Grimauld Place.

&

"I still don't know why you didn't want to just go back to Grimauld," Tonks said breezily, as she brushed past Lupin, holding the door for her, into the warm interior of the Three Broomsticks. "Hogsmeade? Aren't you Order-types meant to be all honest and dedicated? What if Moody finds out we've been skiving off?"

"He won't," he replied. "Not unless you tell him, because I most certainly will not."

Tonks smirked. "I'd have expected better behaviour from you, Mr. Prefect."

Remus pulled out a chair, and she plonked herself into it. "That's Mr. Marauder to you," he said smoothly, laying his moth-eaten jacket over the back of the chair next to hers and aiming for the bar.

"Don't think you being all polite and chivalrous is going to make me think better of you, Lupin!" she called over her shoulder. He laughed.

Setting two foaming mugs on the table in front of them, Lupin propped his ankles on the chair opposite.

"So, why _don't_ you want to go back to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black?" Tonks asked again, taking a hefty gulp.

Lupin shrugged. "I don't get out much," he offered.

"Ah, come on, I know you better than that. You're always coming and going from that damn house. It's like Piccadilly Circus."

Lupin half-smiled. "I suppose that is true. But I don't often get handed the opportunity to come from Grimauld place, and go sit in the pub."

Tonks smiled. "Fair enough. In which case, I think we need a toast." She raised her glass. Lupin did likewise.

"To short errands and long drinks."

The rest of the afternoon was passed in companionable conversation. Remus learnt that Tonks had a Weird Sisters obsession, but otherwise her musical interest spanned several decades and several genres, and that her most hated task was cleaning.

"I'm no good at it," she protested. "Honestly – you ask my mother – can't do a cleaning spell to save my life. And as soon as I attempt organisation, things that I'd previously stowed safely next to my knickers take me three hours to find. It's ridiculous."

Remus tried to push away the image of Tonks pulling a pair of car keys from under her bed and finding a pair of lime green underpants hanging off them. He couldn't and ended up snorting into his flagon and getting beer up his nose. Tonks chided him.

"You're worse than Sirius," she said, but there was a grin belying her words.

"Now, there's no need to be offensive," Remus choked.

Tonks watched him as he cleaned himself up and wiped beer of his jumper.

"So what about you, Professor, what do you do? Apart from skiving off Order duty?"

Remus cleared his throat. "Well now, this coming from someone who lacked the necessary qualities to become Prefect…"

"Well, if all this skiving is anything to go by, you lacked necessary qualities, too."

"Ah yes," he replied. "But I also lacked other qualities, which off-set the former, more detrimental ones."

"Oh?"

"Yes – the ability to get apprehended. I never did master that one."

Tonks grinned. "Ahhh, I understand now – you weren't sweetness and light at all, you just didn't get caught."

"Precisely."

Tonks studied him carefully.

"You know, I'm beginning to suspect you may be a bit of a dark horse, Lupin."

"And I'll thank you to keep the information quiet. Sirius still doesn't know about my equestrian qualities."

"I'll bet." Tonks laughed. "You've avoided the question long enough, though: what do you do in your spare time?"

"What spare time?" he asked, and he felt tired suddenly. "I don't appear to have an awful lot of it of late, what with the Order."

"But you do have time off?"

He raised his drink, to give himself something to do with his hands.

"Not really," he said evenly. "There's the evening, but there isn't much to do in Grimauld Place but read."

"Why don't you go out?" she asked in the same, easy tone.

"It's dangerous," he replied succinctly.

Tonks cocked her eyebrow up at him. "You don't seem the type to let that stop you. Not if you really wanted to go out."

"To be honest, most of the time I'm happy indoors."

She nodded. "I suppose that's fair enough. You like to read?"

"Somewhat," he said, smiling grimly.

"More than somewhat, from what I've seen," Tonks went on. "You always have your nose in a book."

He smiling tightly again. He was feeling quite old, with Tonks sitting there, trying to delve into his life and habits. The truth was, though, that his habits tended to consist of reading, researching, Order duty, and waiting for the moon each month.

"You were reading, _Magnolia_ the other day, weren't you?" she asked, watching him. He looked up, to see genuine curiosity in her eyes.

"Yes, I was. I didn't think you were paying attention."

"I'm Auror," she said happily. "I pay attention to everything." Before he had a chance to digest the statement, or the fact that it made his collar tight, she'd moved on. "_Magnolia_'s not really my cup of tea, to be honest. Wouldn't read it again, anyway, not after the first time. _Maroon_ is better."

Remus frowned. "You've read Julian Rimplin?"

Tonk's raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, I'm dead well-read. I just hide it behind a clumsy, tomboy exterior and a Weird Sisters fanaticism. You're scepticism does you absolutely no credit, by the way."

Relaxing, he smiled at her. "No, I don't suppose it does. I do apologise."

Tonks beamed. "I should think so too. Another one?" she asked, draining her glass and looking down at Remus's.

He glanced out of the window. Sharp, golden light was creeping up the dusty pane.

"We should really be getting back," he said slowly.

Tonks nodded for a moment, then lifted her head sharply and said briskly, "One for the road then?"

&

Sirius was sitting with his feet up on the kitchen table when they crept down the staircase into the darkened kitchen. They didn't notice him until Tonks stumbled down the last few steps and Remus had to lunge to stop her falling flat on her face. He set her on her feet and she doubled over with barely controlled mirth.

Fighting his own furiously stifled laughter, Remus put and hand on her shoulder and a finger to his lips, ducking his head to catch her eye.

"Shhhhhhh!" he hissed, spluttering as Tonks stumbled into his shoulder and broke down completely, her shoulders shaking with glee.

Sirius coughed loudly, his fingers laced over his stomach.

Tonks sprang up, swaying horribly, and Remus swallowed, his lips tight from the effort of not laughing.

"You're lucky I was here to cover for you," Sirius said lightly. "Moody would not have been pleased to see this."

Tonks and Remus both let loud peels of laughter at the same time, and collapsed onto each other. Sirius grinned and shook his head, getting up.

"I'm going to bed. Tonks, feel free to stay here tonight. I'd rather that than you Splinching yourself. Moony," he added, over the noises of Remus and Tonks' laughing fit, "don't throw up in the bathroom."

"I think we need some coffee," Remus said breathlessly, as his laughter died down and Sirius' feet disappeared from the top of the stairs.

Tonks sat down promptly in a chair at the end of the table.

"I'd rather a tea, if there's one going," she said, with no hint of a drunken slur. "Reckon he believed we were plastered?"

Lupin nodded. "Yes, I think so. He'd have made a remark about you not being allowed to take advantage of me if he'd thought we'd be sober enough to remember it."

Tonks laughed softly, and then paused. "Shall I stay here then?" she asked, looking at him.

Remus nodded, handing her a mug and leaning against the counter with a hand in his pocket.

"I'll make up you a guest room," he said, nodding.

Tonks was torn between arguing that she'd just kip on the sofa, and the desire to help him so as to spend more time with him. He fascinated her more than anyone else at the Order, she suddenly realised. On one level, he was just some stuffy, old-than-his-years ex-Professor who spent most of his life in the Library, but on others… he talked with passion about books and life alike, had an exceptionally fast mind, and a wit too, when he showed it. He had a retort for every occasion, and whether he looked like he had at first glance or not, he had undeniably seen the world, and Marauded in it. That and he'd dealt with way more than the average person had too, not least his 'furry little problem'.

"I'll give you a hand," she heard herself saying.

&

_**NB:** Piccadilly Circus, for those who don't know, is a London train station famed for its franticly busy atmosphere. _Magnolia_ and _Maroon_ are fictional Wizarding novels in series titles after the less glamorous colours. They follow the developments in curse breaking in the twentieth century through a narrative, and are available at Flourish and Blotts for seven galleons each, or the set of five for twenty eight galleons._

_Thanks for all your support reviewers, please keep it up. Apologies again for the delayed response._

_Reviewers this chapter will recieve: Truely Drunken Remus - who really would let you take advantage of him; Gentleman Remus - who will make up the spare bedroom but stay up all night with you, talking over a hot chocolate; or Responisible Remus - who would have insisted on taking you home personally, but is easily corrupted once there..._

_**Next time:**_

They didn't realise until they got upstairs that the Weasleys' had taken up every single spare room.

"Ah," Remus murmured. "I suppose you'll be sleeping in my room, then."

&


	6. Top And Tail

_Thanks to reviewers, and I'm really sorry about how short this chapter is. No worries – the next one will be a lot longer. You'll see why at the end…_

&

**Chapter Six – Top-And-Tail**

They didn't realise until they got upstairs that the Weasleys' had taken up every single spare room.

"Ah," Remus murmured. "I suppose you'll be sleeping in my room, then."

Tonks entered Remus's room without really knowing what to expect, but once she was there, she found it difficult to think that she had not always assumed it to be exactly as it was: calm, cool, and austere. There was barely any furniture, and that which there was, was rammed conservatively into the corners, the walls utterly bare and unfurnished.

"Do you spend much time up here?" she asked, scrutinising the room.

"Not if I can avoid it," he answered, watching her roam around. "I only stay here to keep Sirius company, and because it's convenient for the Order. I may have to leave it for the rest of the holidays though – the Weasley children take up a lot of space, and Harry and Hermione will probably arrive shortly."

"Oh." She didn't ask whether or not he knew where he'd go.

Tonks slid her fingers around the edge of the wardrobe door and swung it gently open so that she could look into the mirror on the inside.

"I've gone off the navy blue," she said vaguely, frowning at her reflection. "I think I'm going back to the…"

On her heart-shaped face appeared a look of great concentration. Her hair, which had indeed been navy blue and just longer than shoulder length, slowly shortened, as if it were growing in reverse, and turning a bright, luminous shade of florescent pink.

"At least you'll have something in this room which is a different colour from grey…" she said.

She closed the wardrobe and looked at him.

"You all right, Remus?"

He shrugged. "Fine, thank you."

She narrowed her eyes. "You've got that look on your face."

He fought hard to fight an involuntary and completely unwarranted blush.

"What look?"

"Your thinking look."

He snorted. "I spend rather a lot of time thinking, Tonks, it's hardly remarkable."

"Too true..." she muttered, thoughtfully. She cocked a smile at him. "Double bed, but against the wall. This is a fair-sized room, why don't you make the most of it?"

He shrugged. "There's not generally any need to reach the other side."

"Never bring home any lady-friends, then?" she teased, eyeing him cheekily.

He shook his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "No."

Tonks glanced at his bed. "What, none?" she smirked.

"I'm afraid not."

"Ah-ha! You're _afraid_ not, eh?"

Remus pushed himself off the wall, where he'd been leaning. Taking his wand from his pocket, he lifted the bed three inches from the worn wooden floorboards and dragged it out from the wall.

"Better?" he said.

Tonks grinned. "Much. But you should know that your cunning attempt at distraction was utterly useless."

Lupin shrugged. "Rather silly of me to try, really."

"Completely daft, mate," she nodded.

Remus perched on the edge of his chair and fingered the yellowed edges of the pages of _Magnolia_. Tonks was in the bathroom, changing. He couldn't help feeling that somehow he was doing her a disservice by making her stay in his room. True enough, he wasn't in a position to kick any of the Weasleys' from their rooms, but he should have just told her that he'd Apparate home with her and then returned. Why would she want to spend the night in a musty, cool, attic room, when she could be at home in her own bed?

"Not brooding again, I hope, Remus?"

He smiled. "Of course not. You haven't given me much opportunity to brood lately."

"Good," Tonks said briskly, slinging her jeans and jumper over the back of the metal bedstead. She was swamped by a massive lime green Weird Sister's T-shirt that clashed spectacularly with her pink hair. She dropped down onto the edge of the bed and tested the springiness of the mattress.

"Do we have another mission coming up soon?" Tonks asked, watching him across the room.

"I'm not certain," Remus replied. "I believe we'll be going to collect Harry in a week or so. But until then, we never really know what might come up on short notice."

Tonks nodded thoughtfully, stretching her legs out.

"Doesn't this job ever worry you?" she said shortly. "Don't you ever wonder if you'll actually survive it?"

Remus smiled. "That's a bit maudlin, isn't it Tonks?"

She smirked. "Yes. But we're up late, having a sleep-over in your bedroom having spent all the afternoon on a dangerous mission. I think now is a rather appropriate time to get meditative, don't you?"

He chuckled, and moved across the room to sit on the bed next to her.

"Tonks, up until a year ago, I was convinced that three of my best friends – my only best friends, in fact – had all been killed at the hand of Lord Voldemort. Then I found out that one had been framed for murder, one had been corrupted by Dark magic, and the other was betrayed first, I thought, by one, then the other. Clearly there are… risks."

Tonks nodded. "Justifiable risks?"

Remus paused. "I believe so." He felt like there was something he wanted to say, but somehow couldn't. He hadn't spoken of James and Lily's deaths in a very long time.

"Me too," Tonks said quietly.

&

Remus placed his own mug on the window sill above the bed, and then passed Tonks' hers, careful to turn it so that she was presented with the handle first. She took a long, slow, sip.

"Do you always have tea before bed?" she asked, through the steam.

"Yes," he said thoughtfully, "mostly."

"Why?"

He spluttered. "Why?"

Tonks grinned. "Yes. Why?"

"I'm not sure, I'm afraid. Couldn't begin to guess."

Tonks shuffled and slipped neatly beneath the covers. "There must be a reason," she persisted, settling herself and swiping at a splash of tea she'd sloshed onto the covers. Remus looked at her, holding her gaze steadily for several seconds before he felt the necessity to look away.

"Habit, routine, comfort," he suggested, shrugging.

"That last one," she said quickly. "I reckon it's that one. You've got so many uncertainties in your life that one last hot cup of tea, every night before bed makes you feel like at least one part of your cool, ordered world is still there."

Remus could hear crickets somewhere, but he couldn't imagine where the sound was coming from.

&

"Remus?"

"Mmm."

"Are you asleep?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Remus?"

"Go to sleep, Tonks."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Your feet are in my face."

Lupin's eyes snapped open. "How can they be? I can't see yours."

"Oh yeah, any excuse to remind me how very short I am, Professor…"

He glanced down towards the foot of the bed, where Tonks was prodding the lump in the duvet where his sock-covered feet were hiding.

"If it bothers you that much," he said, "turn around."

She shuffled over and faced outwards. He chuckled.

"I meant move your head to this end of the bed, actually, but what ever makes you comfortable, Nymphadora."

She huffed. "You know not to call me that, Remus."

"I also know that Sirius doesn't like people in his bedroom, but that doesn't mean that I don't go in to steal his Firewhiskey…"

Tonks sat upright immediately.

"You do what?"

Remus shifted his head to look at her. His face was obscured from view under the window sill, where to light from a lamp outside flooded in and hit her in the face. She could make out the outline of his hair where its fluffy texture was ringed with yellow light. He didn't say anything, but she could sense he was smirking.

"The Marauder in you still alive and stealing then?" she said, grinning.

"It takes more than a war, two deaths, one betrayal and a long jail sentence to finish off the Marauders, Tonks."

She didn't doubt it.

&

"Toast?"

Tonks looked up from where she'd been tugging her baseball boots onto her feet, perched on the edge of the bed. Remus held out a plate of toast and marmalade that Molly had evidently sent up.

Light that was a hell of a lot less severe than that which had come in from the street light last night was falling lazily through the flimsy curtains, coating the room in a milky white light. Tonks tugged her jeans firmly around her ankles and stood up, picking up her wand from Remus's bedside table and tucking it into her back pocket.

"Cheers," she said enthusiastically, grabbing a piece too heftily and knocking the plate from Remus's hand. With a casual flick of his wand, which he pulled from his pocket like a pistol in a quick-draw competition, the plate zoomed sharply up from the floor before it smashed and returned to Remus's outstretched fingers.

"Sorry." Embarrassment burnt her ears, but she didn't have time to linger on it. Smoothly, Remus shrugged.

"No problem. Moody says you should be back here for four o'clock tonight. It's urgent."

"Why?" she asked, struggling to recover from the sensations of gratitude that were ripping through her stomach at Remus's tactful distraction and his kind smile. "What's happened?"

"We're going to collect Harry. There's been an… incident at Privet Drive. We need to get him tonight."

&

_R & R please._

_Choice of review reward include: Timid Remus, who doesn't really want to talk about why his double bed is where it is at all, and would rather get in; Sleepy Remus, who would quite like to get to sleep to that he's alert and… frisky in the morning; or Sexy Remus, who's all to eager to let you stay in his room and make use of Sirius's stolen Firewhiskey…_


	7. Harry Potter

_This is hopefully a much better constructed and wholly more interesting and exciting chapter than the last one you had to live with. That was more of a filler between chapter five and this one, where some intriguing developments should take place…_

&

**Chapter Seven – Harry Potter**

Lupin sat quietly in his chair, absorbed completely in _Maroon_. He was re-reading it, having heard exactly what Tonks had to say on the matter, and had just discovered a plot twist that he had missed entirely during his first perusal. She was right – it _was_ better than _Magnolia_.

One of the main characters, Redina, was attempting to purify a base element, supposedly to help in the creation of a draught to aid in the curing of some Wizarding plague… It was all rather technical and complicated, and Remus was rather afraid for Redina, because she'd broken into her father's laboratory to conduct the experiments, but her father's health wasn't at all what it used to be, and if his bindings came loose as they were prone to do and he found her there—

It was no wonder he jumped about three feet in the air when he heard a voice from the other side of the kitchen. Fumbling, his book few from his fingers as his heart stopped, soared half way across the room and skidded across the stone floor, grinding to halt at Tonks' feet. He looked up, his chest heaving slightly, and saw her looking at him.

"Engrossed, were we?"

He noticed that her voice seemed slightly flatter and less buoyant than usual, and her dark eyes were red-rimmed and slightly glossy. Something tangled and knotty tightened in his stomach.

"What gave me away?" he said softly.

"The way you leapt into the air when I said, 'hello' like you'd just been hit with a Jumping-Jack spell."

He nodded. He watched Tonks as she crossed the room, sat heavily in a chair next the fire, and watched her attention slide away. Her eyes glazed over as she stared into the flames. He could see their reflection dancing in each eye.

"Tonks, what's the matter?" he asked bluntly.

She didn't reply for a moment, then took a slow, apparently calming breath that shuddered a great deal more than he'd expected it to.

"I had some bad news," she said, her voice surprisingly steady.

Remus hadn't expected it to be good. But these days, "bad news" tended to be extraordinarily bad news.

"A friend of mine, working in Cambodia, only just got back. She's… um. Well… she's dead, I suppose. She's… yeah. She died."

Remus sighed. He pulled his chair forward, irritated by the loudness of the rattling as he tugged it over the flagstones.

"Tonks, I'm sorry."

"No, no," she said quickly. "I'm fine. I—"

Her throat made a sharp clucking noise, and her head dropped into her hand.

"I'm _fine_," she said again, more so to herself than to him. "I should have expected it. I should have been prepared for this. I mean, this is what happens, in war? Isn't it?"

She looked at him. Her big dark eyes were wide, and almost pleading, and Remus didn't know what to say. Yes, this kind of thing did happen in wars.

"I'm afraid so," he muttered. "Tonks, you don't have to come tonight—"

"Are you kidding me?" she said sharply, her voice breaking. She coughed firmly several times and took another breath. Clearly fighting tears was a hard task. "Look, I' might be a little bit shaken by this, but if you think I'm going to let it—"

"Nymphadora, it's alright to be upset," he told her gently, laying a hand on her arm. She looked at it, then flicked her eyes back up to his. He was almost surprised that he wasn't splashed by the moisture clinging to her thick, black eyelashes. "Nobody will think any the less of you."

"I will," she replied stubbornly, furiously swiping at her eyes. She blinked towards the ceiling for a few seconds before seeming to get herself under control. She smiled damply at his hand, before placing hers over it and squeezing.

"Thanks, Remus." She looked back to the fire for a few seconds. "Any chance of a cup of tea?" she asked, smiling at him. If it wasn't for the roughness in her voice, or the pinkness in her eyes, he wouldn't have been able to tell she was anything other than normal, happy, beaming Tonks.

"Of course."

He directed her over to the kettle and told her to put it on the hob, with the thought that perhaps keeping her occupied would distract her from whatever the extent of her pain was. As he reached up to the top self to retrieve a tin of biscuits Molly had made the day before, though, he heard a distinct and unmistakable sob.

Tonks was leaning over the kettle, her face enveloped by steam. But the blotchiness of her face and the blackened rims of her eyes were distinctive signs that she wasn't as fine as she had tried to insist she was.

Calmly, Remus laid the tin on the work surface and moved to hug Tonks. He couldn't think of anything else that would be appropriate, and it seemed easy and obvious. Never mind the fact that she clearly needed to feel that someone was close, having lost someone who she was once able to touch and talk to, and who she never would again.

Tonks' arms tightened around his waist, and he suddenly found himself wondering if this was appropriate. I mean, that hadn't known each other very long, and no matter how close they said they were, or how well they got on, he wasn't sure he had the right hug her. There again, he simply wished very firmly that he could take away that wet constriction in her chest that he knew she must be feeling.

Tonks was too young for all this. She was what? Twenty, twenty-one? Too young.

_You were eighteen during the first war, Remus,_ he told himself. _And she's a lot more capable and a lot better qualified than most are to deal with this, including you when you were her age._ He didn't like himself for momentarily not giving her enough credit. He could think of plenty of times when he'd desperately need physical comfort during his life, but had never received it because of what he was.

What was he to her, anyway? Father figure? Brother? Friend? He knew he was her friend. That wasn't disputed. But there was something in the way she was holding herself against his shoulder than made him miss this. Hugs weren't something the average werewolf received very often, bereaved friends or no.

"What's going on?" Sirius's voice said sharply. Remus lifted his head and grimaced.

"Tonks had a bit of bad news," he said, in as un-patronising a manner as he could. Sirius blinked.

"Oh. I see."

Remus felt Tonks extricating herself from him and straighten up.

"It's alright, Sirius, I'm okay. I just needed a hug," she said, more certainly than before, and drying her eyes. "I'll be fine to pick up Harry."

"Yeah," Sirius said uncertainly. "About that. We appear to have a few more volunteers than we generally expected."

&

"This is it?" Tonks was suitably unimpressed when they reached Number Four, Privet Drive the following evening with seven or eight other people, all of whom had volunteered to accompany Moody and himself. Remus found it rather amusing that a house as large and… _suburban_ as the Dursley's, while being rather highly sort after by many Muggles, would be so utterly repulsive to a young witch with lilac hair that matched her baseball boots.

"I take it from your expression of disgust that Muggle décor is not to your taste?" he said, smiling sidelong at her. She threw from an admonishing look.

"Stop trying to wind me up and keep a look out down the street," she replied, lifting her wand to peer along the crimped hedgerows. Remus chuckled lightly and did as he was told.

They all trooped into the house, crushing Petunia Dursley's prize geraniums and scuffing the manicured lawn. Remus brought up the rear; following Tonks into a kitchen that was so hygienically clean you could easily eat your dinner from the floor. And not just any part of the floor. The bit of lino under the bin would probably be perfectly fine.

Not entirely unexpectedly, it wasn't long before Tonks knocked something over.

"Shite!" she yelled, as she prodded the plate she'd broken with the toe of her trainer. "Sorry Mad-Eye…"

"Well that's thoroughly eliminated the element of surprise," Moody growled. "Well done, Tonks."

"Alastor," Remus cut in calmly, "we don't need to surprise Harry. He'd most likely hex us if we did, and he's not exactly a poor shot with a wand."

"Never the less," Mad-Eye frowned, "it never hurt to maintain con—"

"Constant vigilance," Tonks said, in a dead-pan voice lacking in any kind of enthusiasm. "Yeah, Moody. We know. So, where is the boy wonder?"

"His room's upstairs, I expect," Remus murmured. "Let's take a look in the hallway…"

Moody stumped off, murmuring something about performing an all-over unlocking charm, because Arthur Weasley said he'd once been locked inside his room for several weeks. But as Remus moved to follow him, he felt Tonks catch his arm. She fixed him was a hard, kind stare.

"Thanks for earlier," she muttered. "I was feeling pretty low." She smiled gently. "Guess all I needed was a hug, eh? Well… thanks, anyway. And thanks for not telling Mad-Eye either. I bet he'd have found a way to make me out be a security risk."

"Anyone would have done the same," he replied, though his throat wasn't working quite as well as he would have liked.

"I know," she replied. "But I'm glad it was you."

Without another word, she joined the others in the hall. Remus followed, and reached the bottom of the pitch-black stairs just in time to see Harry appear at the pinnacle.

He wanted to greet him, but was worried than his apparently dry throat wouldn't work. He swallowed several times, but by the time he'd wet it enough that he no longer feared utter muteness, and had sought to settle a strangely erratic beat in his chest, Moody had practically barked up the stairs at him.

"Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out."

Remus saw Harry's confused eyes widen.

"Professor Moody?"

"I don't know so much about 'Professor'," Moody growled, "never got round to much teaching, did I? Get down here, we want to see you properly."

Remus felt Tonks' hand brush excitedly against his, and suddenly all the hard work he'd put in making his throat useable was reversed again. However, Harry still had not moved, and he had to say something.

"It's all right Harry," he said, his voice a good deal hoarser than he would have liked, but not at terribly useless as he had thought it might be, "We've come to take you away."

"P-Professor Lupin?" Harry said, disbelievingly. "Is that you?"

"Why are we all standing in the dark?" Tonks piped up suddenly, and rather sensibly, Remus thought. "_Lumos_."

Harry's mouth twitched, as Remus couldn't avoid smiling any longer. Relief seemed to break over Harry, and he physically relaxed, though he was clearly still slightly taken aback.

"Oooh, he looks just like a thought he would. Wotcha, Harry!"

&

Remus knew it had been a bad idea to go with his gut instinct and sit next to Tonks during that evening's meeting. His leg had kept brushing hers, she'd kept throwing him bright and all-too friendly-minded grins, and she'd kept playing with her pink hair. The fact that she'd morphed it from purple was of course plainly obvious to him: the pink hair was his favourite. But it was hard to comment on it without her noticing that he'd noticed it. A lot.

However distracted he was, he was awake enough to know when the meeting had finally drawn to a close and he and Tonks could get on with locking the door, as they did at the end of every meetings. However, for some reason unbeknownst to all but Molly herself, the job that was normally left for Tonks and himself to do alone she decided to assist with. Sudden and inexplicable annoyance with Molly Weasley sprung up uncomfortably in his chest.

However, only he could predict the exact second when Tonks' balance would desert her, and she'd trip spectacularly over the troll-leg umbrella stand. There ensured a fierce internal struggle within Lupin, about whether to help up Tonks, or quiet Mrs. Black's portrait. He offered Tonks his arm. She grabbed it, hauled herself sharply to her feet – perhaps in an effort to right her mistake as soon as possible – and set about lifting the umbrella stand back into its original position, leaving him free to help with the painting, and free to stew over his actions.

Merlin, he was in trouble.

Tonks was rather quiet herself, through the embarrassment, he assumed. Quiet, that is, except for when she was apologising. And she was doing that rather profusely. In the end, Remus got so frustrated with her berating herself in what he thought was a totally undeserved fashion, that as they followed the others into the kitchen, he touched her arm and whispered into her ear,

"It was an accident, Tonks. Stop apologising."

He didn't see the look she followed him with as he passed her and went to sit down next the fireplace.

&

_R & R please – Tell me what you think. Does this make up for last time's shoddy chapter?_

_Reviewers will receive: Sexy Remus, who know a hug is only a prelude to something more; Tender Remus, who makes sure you're absolutely all right before you even think about leaving his arms; or Frustrated Remus, who knows that being slightly clumsy isn't your own fault and wants you to show him just how co-ordinated you can be…_


	8. Jonesborough

_Apologies about the non-beta-ness. Carry on though! (And sorry about the earlier mistake – Lupin admitted he was a werewolf twice. Well, at least we know it thoroughly isn't an issue!)_

&

**Chapter Eight – Jonesborough**

Tonks looked up sharply. Molly Weasley's voice had snapped like a whip through the small kitchen, and Lupin thought her reaction highly amusing. Clearly she can't have been paying attention to the conversation for some considerable time to have been that surprised. He glanced at her, and thought – though it was equally likely he'd imagined it – that he saw her blush.

"I want you in bed, now. All of you,"

Molly was saying, and Lupin tore his eyes away from Tonks' pink neck to listen.

"You can't boss us—"

"Watch me," Molly growled. "You've given Harry enough information. Any more and you might just as well induct him into the Order straightaway."

Lupin knew what was coming as soon as Molly let the words out of her mouth. Harry was so much like James – there was no way he could ignore the appeal of that idea.

"Why not?" he said. "I'll join, I want to join, I want to fight."

He had to step in.

"No."

He felt all eyes swing to him, particularly Tonks'.

"The Order is comprised only of overage wizards. Wizards who have left school," he added, as Fred and George's mouths opened. Even as he heard himself say it, he knew that he never who have stood for it himself – being of age was as qualified as you needed to be in the wizarding world. He felt torn between a desire to treat them _all_ fairly, and the desire – the overwhelming desire – to keep them all safe. "There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea," he explained carefully, "any of you… I think Molly's right, Sirius," he said, searching for support. Sirius blinked at him, looking irritated that he'd pulled him into it. "We've said enough."

Sirius half-shrugged, and Lupin recognised the action as his 'all-right-but-I'm-not-bloody-well-happy-about-it' gesture. He threw him a small, tight small, that Sirius returned only fractionally.

As Harry, Ron, Hermione and the twins left the room, Lupin couldn't help but feel guilty. As much as he hated to admit it, because it tore away from him the illusion of being able to treat Harry as an equal, along with the others, he couldn't bring himself to accept that they were ready for what they might have to face if they joined the Order. There simply wasn't any way in which they could prepare themselves.

"You were right, Remus," Tonks said softly next to him. "They're not ready for all that."

Remus looked at her, and saw her bright eyes smiling gently. She made it seem so small when she encompassed the entirety of all they knew in two small words: 'all that'…

Sirius snorted grumpily and hauled himself over to the pantry.

Lupin found his head in his hands. Was it really fair that they didn't tell Harry everything he needed to know? Harry was, after all, in many ways the _most_ qualified to know.

He felt a small hand on his shoulder, and was amazed at how the warmth of Tonks' palm managed to seep through his thick jumper, and shirt, and spread throughout his whole body.

"It's massive, isn't it?" she said quietly, the words not sounding like a question.

He smiled. "Yes, it is. Very much so."

Tonks hesitated for a moment, then slipped from her chair to perch on the arm of his, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Somehow hugs seemed to be on the cards tonight. He flushed unexpectedly at the affection and comfort. It was a somewhat alien feeling for him. He lent his head back against her shoulder and felt the smell of butterscotch and pine trees wafting over him.

"Do you want a cup of tea?" he heard Tonks ask, muffled into his shoulder though it was.

He nodded, somehow finding his voice mysteriously absent. She disappeared suddenly, and he listened as she crossed to the dresser to collect cups. Sirius barged out of the pantry, muttered something hasty and huffy to Tonks and dashed away up the stairs. Tonks busied herself with the kettle and sat back down with two steaming mugs.

"Sirius has gone to feed Buckbeak," she said.

"Yes," Remus said mildly. "I'm sure he has." He looked at his mug. "Sugar?"

"Yes, Honey?" she said absently, before grinning cheekily. He laughed, trying to ignore the flaming in his face. She wrinkled her nose. "Three sugars, as always."

"Thank you."

"Not a problem."

He was acutely aware of her watching him as he took a tentative sip, testing the temperature. She needn't have worried – he'd drunk tea she'd made before and had thought it beat Molly Weasley's. He thought it might be because she didn't make it in a teapot; she just sloshed the water straight over the bag in the mug. Like he did: it made it stronger. Why had he paid so much attention to how she made tea?

"Lovely," he said, smiling kindly. She beamed.

"Good," she said smugly. "'Cause I'm not making you another one."

They sat in silence for a while, drinking their tea and each apparently absorbed in their own thoughts. Remus was beginning to feel cold, and think about how it was probably time he went to bed. Tonks was looking at him again.

"I enjoy a good scrutiny as much the next man," he said. "But I think if you told me what was on your mind, it might make reassurances a lot less problematic."

Tonks laughed. "You might have a point there," she said into her mug. She peered up, raising a brow. "But how do you know I don't just want to stare at the side of your head."

"Because I was under the impression that you weren't _that_ weird."

He'd expected her to laugh – or hoped she would – but it wasn't what he expected. It wasn't that it sounded hollow, just that it sounded… preoccupied. He lifted his eyes and saw a small and indefinable something loitering behind eyes that suddenly seemed much deeper and darker than before.

"I'm actually quite fond of the side of your head, Remus. And that doesn't feel so weird to me."

Dragging his eyes away was what he should be doing. He understood that the surface of the table should suddenly become very interesting to him. He should be giving her the opportunity to duck her head, cough loudly, and make a joke about something repulsive or work-based. But what he was actually doing was staring at her. Caught up and drowning in the bottomless pools of her brown eyes. They whispered to him. They sung strange songs that made him want to lunge across the table and crush his mouth to hers.

"Doesn't it?"

His chest felt too tight.

Tonks smiled softly, soothingly, and all of a sudden he wondered what the hell had confused and befuddled him so.

"No, it doesn't. If I couldn't stand looking at the side of your head, don't you think I would have stopped sitting next to you at every available opportunity by now?" She leant forward on the table, looking away from his gaze, determinedly towards her golden bracelet as she fiddled idly with it, tracing the tiny ridges and contours of one of the charms. Her finger slipped to the next one along and turned it upright, revealing a tiny intricate watch with tiny gold cogs, suspended in a minute glass bulb.

"It's getting late," she said. "I'd better go. Early shift in the morning." She stood up slowly, and Remus jumped up after her, before trying to appear less eager.

"Are you sure?" he asked, swallowing. "If you'd like another cup of tea…"

The suggestion hung in the air like a bird, fluttering and cuffing its wings against the lampshade.

She smiled. "Nope, I've got to hit the road, I think. I wish I could stay," she added hurriedly, "but—"

"No, no," he replied quickly, nodding. "You've got to go. I understand."

She grinned. "Another time. Promise."

"Good," he nodded, giving her a warm smile. "Do you need me to Apparate you home?" he asked.

"Auror, remember?" Tonks smirked. "I'm more qualified than you are to get home alone."

"Yes, of course," he smiled firmly.

Tonks watched him for a minute, the light from the streetlamps outside spilling into the hallway. Mad-Eye would kill them for standing there with the door wide open.

"Night, Remus."

&

Tonks was woken two days later, in the middle of the night, by a frantic crashing, tapping, scratching noise. When she managed to prise her eyes open, she saw that an owl was repeatedly flinging itself against the window, a parchment scroll tight in its talons. She leapt out of bed and opened the window, to have the owl swoop straight to her bed and become tangled in the covers. Hastily Tonks released the scroll, and carried the owl through to the kitchen, so that it could take its pick from the leftovers of her dinner.

_Tonks,_

_There's been a Deatheater attack in Ireland. The Ministry don't know yet, so get ready to move in ten minutes. We're coming to get you at quarter-past one._

_Remus._

Tonks flung herself back into the bedroom. _One-fifteen_ glowed purple across the room from her bedside table. Almost the instant that the thought registered in her head, accompanied by a desperately wobbly feeling of horror, there was a soft tap on her front door.

"Bollocks!"

"Tonks – it's Remus – could you let us, please?"

She did, dashing to pull back the Yale lock. She drew in a calming breath and pulled her shoulders back stubbornly.

"You're not ready," Lupin said obviously, when she'd opened the door. Moody stood behind him to the left, and Arthur Weasley was to the right. Tonks glared at him, daring him to test her. He seemed a little bit too concerned with taking in the fact that she was dressed only in a pair of knickers and a camisole of a shocking lime green to notice the expression on her face, though.

"I only just got your message," she said softly, finding it oddly enthralling to see Lupin visibly swallow, and tear his eyes back to her eyes.

"Well don't just stand there, Tonks," Moody growled, shoving his way past them and knocking Lupin into action. "Get some clothes on and lets go. Didn't Lupin warn you this was a twenty-four-hour operation? Come on, girl, move."

Tonks rolled her eyes, and Lupin shook his head dimly.

"I believe I may have mentioned—"

"Shut up, Remus," Tonks interrupted. "Come with me – I've got no idea what's going on, not on me own."

Pulling himself together, he gestured for her to lead the way.

As soon as she entered the bedroom to threw open her wardrobe doors, and pulled out layers of clothing and slung them onto her bed.

"So what do I need, Lupin?" she said over her shoulder, tugging on jeans. "Wand, flares, potions, hexes?"

"Your wand should be perfectly suff…"

She smirked: she'd completely stripped her camisole off in one brisk movement – facing away from him – and was pushing the straps of a raspberry bra hastily over her shoulders.

"Sufficient…" Lupin finished. Huskily.

"Well what's the situation? Come on, Remus, I'm used to working with a lot more information than I've been so far."

There was a long pause. She pulled on a jumper and turned around, grabbing a pair of Converse trainers from a shelf behind Lupin and brushing past him to reach them, before darting off into the living room.

"Well, as far as I'm aware, a group of Deatheaters have attempted a raid on a wizarding village just outside of Dublin. We can't internationally Apparate without pre-approval, so we're going to have to Apparate to a village called Jonesborough, and cross the boarder via a contact of ours. If we Apparate straight there the Ministry will know immediately and we cannot risk drawing attention to ourselves."

"Righto. Ready when you are, Mad-eye, let's go."

"Side-Along, Tonks – get hold of Lupin and Arthur."

The four Order members joined in a circle of squashed elbow-clutching, Mad-Eye's wand held out in the middle.

"Count of three, everyone step right sharpish. One, two, three—"

It was the most uncomfortable Side-Along that Tonks had ever experienced. Instead of two of you being squeezed through tight rubber tube, twice as many people were wrapped up, and for the five seconds of travel, Tonks felt like she was being held underwater. Jonesborough couldn't come soon enough.

She fell – almost fainted, in truth – once her feet hit solid ground, and it took her a few moments of severe disorientation before she realised she was only still upright because Remus, thought staggering slightly under his own fuzzy balance, was holding her upright, his fingers digging into her upper arms. He smelt like shaving foam and soap.

Fog laid thickly all around them, so much so that any indications of where they were, or even what direction they were facing in were completely wiped out. There was absolutely no light, it was pitch black, and freezing. Tonks felt a sharp pant of warm breath on her lips, and could almost sense Remus, incredibly close to her. Swiftly, but reluctantly, she let go of him, her ears adjusting to the sounds of wherever they'd landed. She'd think about the tingling sensation travelling down her spine once they'd completed their mission.

There was barely any wind, barely any sense of movement at all. The only things making any noise were themselves, which was an off-putting experience. She felt Mad-Eye appear next to her.

"No-one about," he muttered, by way of telling them it was safe to talk. She knew his magic eye could see far better than any of they could.

"Where are we?"

"Bottom of a hill. Jonesborough Look-out Post is at the summit – that's where we've got to get to."

"Lead the way."

The hill was reasonably steep, but not uncomfortably so, and it was only fifty meters or so to the top. Tonks fell into step with Lupin.

"Why here?"

Remus's arm kept bumping hers as they followed close behind Moody and Arthur Weasley, so as not to loose them.

"It sits just on the boarder between Northern Ireland and the Republic. There should be a warlock there who works with Dumbledore, and can get us over the boarder legally, so that the Ministry aren't automatically informed, but hopefully in a more time-efficient manner than the usual passages."

"Right."

The warlock greeted them halfway down the hill.

"Moody! Come on over here y'old scoundrel!" The voice echoed out of the darkness, rich though rough with age, and with a gruff Irish accent.

"Hamlae?"

"Y'alright, y'old sod. Havn't seen y'in an age!"

Lupin and Tonks could see nothing of the exchange going on up front, they could only hear. Moody's voice dropped to a low rumble.

"You know why we're here, Hamlae. We need to get on – it's urgent Order business."

"Righto, righto. Well, assumin' yeh survive, come back this way an' we'll do the pleasantries then. This way Mad-Eye, and y'lot."

Without warning, perhaps seeing something she'd missed, Lupin had grabbed her hand and they were moving at a quicker pace, following Moody and Arthur, and the unseen Hamlae. The entire situation was making her Auror-sharpened nerves jangle with trepidation, but Remus's hand was irritatingly cool and firm in hers, and suddenly she wasn't as worried.

"Do you know anything else about this Deatheater raid, Remus?" she asked breathily, jogging up the hill, hand poised near her wand, and feeling glad she'd worn reasonable footwear.

&

_Comments? Criticisms? Contributions? All reviews gratefully received._


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